Japanese Dirty Words and Sex Slang: Postcards from a Sex Nerd

Start with the Basics ...

Want to know how to get it on with a Japanese hottie? Want to avoid getting slapped or having an octopus stuffed up an orifice? Or maybe you do want an octopus stuffed up your ying-yang … but you’ll take a miss on the tuna?

Then you’d better know your Japanese sex slang. Japanese slang changes at a pace that would leave the hippest American gasping for words not yet invented. On top of that, lingo for sex and subculture practices rarely leave Japan and hardly ever gets translated into English. Here are some of the words that I find helpful in navigating my way around the sticky underbelly of Tokyo. By the time you memorize these, I’ll have more for you.

Anaru — Anal sex. You’ll find that a lot of Japanese sex words are English words transliterated. Sometimes the transliteration is so terrible that native English speakers will be hard pressed to understand them.
An gura — Underground or subculture, applicable to music, art and sex scenes.
Baibu — Vibrator. Contractions of English words are common too, although the contractions follow Japanese speech pattern preferences.
Chimpo or Chimpoko — Pecker / Willie. It’s interesting that most slang commonly used for penis are goofy little kid words. It’s hard not to giggle. At least I don’t point and laugh.
Felachio — Fellatio aka blowjob. (You saw that one coming.)
Harupesu — Herpes.
Iku — “I’m coming!” The literal meaning is “Going!” So why is it that English speakers come while Japanese go? If a Japanese and an English speaker couple have a simultaneous orgasm, do they meet in the middle?
Kensa — Test, as in STI testing. There are free clinics around Tokyo for STI testing. For information on free or low-cost and anonymous testing in Japan: www.hivkensa.com/.
Kuremijia — Chlamydia.
Kuritoris — Clitoris.
Nama — Sex without condoms. (Literal meaning: Raw.)
Omanko or Manko — Vulva, female genitals in general or pussy. It’s a word that’s really hard for a lot of women to say. I think it’s the equivalent of the word “cunt” for most women, pre-Third Wave feminism and sex positivism.
Seibyo — Sexually transmitted infections.
Seifuzoku — Sex work and sex workers.
Shi gata kan’en C — Hepatitis C.
Shio fuki — Female ejaculation. The word refers to whales blowing water from their blowhole, a fitting and poetic description from a fishing culture. It’s an old word referring to female ejaculation, so it’s a phenomenon that’s been known and accepted for some time by the Japanese.
Tama or Kintama — Quite literally, balls. The second term means Gold Balls. Seems more valuable than brass balls.
Va ghee nah — Vagina.

Bari Neko — Stone Femme – the total femme lesbian who’s always the fuckee and would never think of lifting a long-taloned finger to fuck her lover.
Bari Tachi — Stone Butch – the utterly masculine lesbian who’s always the fucker, never the fuckee.
Bian — Contraction of the transliteration of the word “lesbian.” “Bian” was claimed as a word by lesbians who found the term “Rezu” to be demeaning.
Dou sei ai — Homosexuality.
Dou sei ai sha — Homosexual.
Gei — Gay.
Maguro — Pillow queen (Literal meaning: Tuna, as in the caught ones that are laying passive on the fisherman’s pallet.) Having seen the frozen behemoth fish at the Tsukiji wholesale fish market, I’d say that these pillow queens are also seriously frigid as well.
Neko — Femme.
Nonke — Heterosexual. Sometimes this seems to include the straight acting or straight looking. I found bars for gay men where the staff look like hot het boys.
Nyu hafu — “New Half” Male to female transfolk. Often used in porn and prostitution so it has a pejorative edge to it.
Okama — A queeny gay man (Literal meaning: pot or rice pot.)
Onabe — Masculine lesbian or male identified women (Literal meaning: sauce pan.)
O su su — a guy who hangs out with lesbians. (Literal meaning: Liquid left in saucepan after cooking.)
Okoge — a woman who hangs out with gay men, or fag hag. (Literal meaning: Crispy burnt rice stuck to the side of rice cookers.)
Rezu — “Lez” meaning lesbian. It’s considered a very derogatory term. I suppose in a way that the word “dyke” used to be considered, and still is by many, in the U.S.
Riba — “Reversible” meaning switching from fucker to fuckee. Mostly gay/lesbian usage.
Tachi — Butch.
Uri sen — Male sex worker. Literally it means “specializes in selling.”

Emu, M — Masochist. Example Emu-o: O is one pronunciation of the word for male, so Emu-o means masochist male or bottoms.
Esu, S — Sadist. Example Esu-jo: Jo is one pronunciation of the word for female, so Esu-jo is a sadistic female.
Esu Emu SM — SM. Yes that’s the actual word used for sadomasochism in Japan. Before dead white guys in 19th Century Europe decided to make a separate category, folks didn’t have a name for the odd stuff that some folks did behind closed doors.
Goshujinsama or Uesama — Male dominant. This one is pretty tricky. Direct translation from the common English use of “Master” to mean “male dominant” really isn’t applicable in Japan. Men who top in Japan don’t use a self-appointed title. They don’t insist on others calling them any special names. The term “goshujinsama” is sometimes met with a snicker as it literally means “Husband” in the high honorific form. “Uesama” is a gender-neutral term used in feudal Japan for the highest ranking of that clan. When Americans ask for the translation for “Master”, they’re likely to get some hemming and hawing or a quick brush-off with the word “Goshujinsama.”
Jo oh sama — Dominant woman (Literal meaning: Queen). Often used for professional dominants but not limited to the pros.
Josou — Male to female cross-dressing.
Ougon — Scat. Literally, Yellow Gold.
Rosoku — Candles.
Seisui — Golden shower. Literally, holy water.
Sekkusu or Sei — Sex.
Shibatte or shibaru — To tie.
Tataku — To spank.
Tsuri or tsuru — To suspend. Yes, with rope.
Shokushu — Tentacle.

And finally, the source of ancient sexual secrets for the young and hip Tokyoites …

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Frequent sightings of her from around the globe make us wonder if she ever sleeps or if she’s cloned her self. A sexuality educator, sex-positive activist, and artist, she’s made an improbable career out of being the traveling sexpert. Don’t miss the groundbreaking book “Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage” which first cracked open the mysteries to Westerners, the hot essays in “Wild Side Sex: The Book of Kink” and twisted dark science fiction in “Master Han’s Daughter”. Learn the basics in “Midori’s Expert Guide to Sensual Bondage” DVD.

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